1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a running body having an animal model with four legs, e.g., a horse model for a horse racing game, a dog model for a dog racing game or the like, in which the fore and hind legs are supported on the barrel of the animal model so as to swing back and forth by a swing mechanism, and to a racing game apparatus using a plurality of the running bodies.
2. Description of Related Art
Such a kind of running body having an animal model with four legs is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Publication No. Jitsukai-Hei-1-152698.
The running body disclosed in this Publication has a structure in which a horse model is provided on a column which is erected on a movable body so that the horse model can be swung. In the structure, the fore legs and the hind legs of the horse model are operated by a linkage, of which a link is vertically provided in the horse model and is swung by a crank which is connected with an axle of the movable body.
In such a conventional running body having an animal model with four legs, the upper and lower limbs of each fore leg or of each hind leg are formed in one piece, so that relative positions of the upper and lower limbs do not change during travelling of the running body. Although the fore legs and the hind legs are swung back and forth, an action of the fore legs like a raking-in action is not included, so that only an action far from an image of gallop of a racing horse is obtained. Therefore, a conventional racing game using such a running body having an animal model with four legs was not entirely satisfactory to people who hoped to enjoy the game in a sense almost the same as that of a real horse racing.